Agreed. Like it or not the way has built this roster it's made it impossible for the board not to accept his option. Either way we'd still going into the next season with the exact same core.

What if Colangelo decides he does not want to be a lame duck next season and wants a longer term extension to which Leiweke/MLSE say no?

I could see a scenario where Stefanski is made interim GM and Casey is kept on for this upcoming season. During that time Casey is told to focus on defense and Stefanski is given the mandate to accumulate as many assets and as much flexibility as possible from the core of DeRozan/Lowry/Gay/Bargnani.

2014-15 would then give a new GM a clean slate with a LOT of flexibility.

Another rebuild many will say? Well, it has been on going for 14 of 18 years, what is another 1 or 2 if done with leadership possessing the patience to stick to an actual plan?

The Toronto Raptors haven’t reached a decision on the future of club president and general manager Bryan Colangelo yet.

But there is growing speculation that Colangelo may make the first move.

Colangelo has been waiting for nearly a week to learn if he was convincing enough in his presentation to MLSE ownership and incoming president and CEO Tim Leiweke to at least have the option year on his contract picked up.

It was expected there would be some resolution in time for the company’s meeting of the board, scheduled for Wednesday.

But according to sources the board — who have ceded the decision on Raptors personnel decision to Leiweke — is prepared to wait a little longer to make a decision about Colangelo’s current deal or offering him an extension.

That timeline may not suit Colangelo and there is some suggestion that he may take action preemptively and offer his resignation in the coming days.

“It wouldn’t shock me that if at the end of the day, if I’m not going to give him a vote of confidence, he moves on,” said Leiweke.

In last Monday’s meeting Colangelo faced tough some questioning from Leiweke and MLSE ownership who was seeking an explanation for the franchise’s five straight years outside the playoffs in a meeting that ran three hours.

According to sources Colangelo may be growing frustrated waiting for a decision to be me made, with the longer it drags on serving as evidence to him that he is not Leiweke’s first choice to run the basketball operations going forward.

It’s believed that Leiweke’s been hesitating on making the call on Colangelo because there are two paths being pursued in parallel.

On one hand Leiweke — who was the president and CEO of AEG, part owners of the Los Angels Lakers before agreeing to take on the top job at MLSE and who also was previously the president of the Denver Nuggets — is still trying to determine if Colangelo is the right person for the job long term or if picking up his option might make the most sense for the franchise in the short term.

On the other sources close to the MLSE familiar with Leiweke’s thinking say he’s also tapping into his NBA contacts to determine if there might be a preferred choice to give the franchise over to for a complete makeover.

Status-quo cannot be an option.

Working with a roster that is built for a playoff appearance - and nothing more - is only delaying the inevitable. I'd rather see a team built with a solid foundation including a 21 year old Valanciunas on a rookie contract versus restarting with a 26 year old JV on an expensive contract. The Raptors went down that road twice before with Carter and Bosh.

Build a team and winning for the much anticipated 2021 free agent class!

Sources say the board representatives for Rogers and Bell, led by BCE chief executive officer George Cope and Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed, have ceded the decision to Leiweke, who has NBA ties dating back to his days as the president of the Denver Nuggets until 1995. Rogers and Bell each own 37.5% of MLSE, and have agreed to vote as a bloc; neither is believed to be in favour of retaining Colangelo, but in this case they are not making the final call. Leiweke, the former CEO of sports giant AEG, is in charge.

I believe Bell and Rogers are required by a shareholders agreement to vote the same way on all material decisions to avoid Tanenbaum getting leverage over one of them. So, it makes perfect sense to have Leiweke make the call on two levels.

One last point for all the people saying, 'we have no picks, no cap space, so we can't do much this year anyway - doesn't matter if we retain Colangelo'. No, no, no, no, no. That's the kind of short term thinking that got the Raps where they are now. Colangelo has already done enough damage here that fixing it is going to take years. May as well start now. Otherwise, you're in for another disappointing season, followed by 3-4 years of climbing out from under it. I'd rather start the clock now.

Here's the problem with the logic saying Colangelo deserves to see this through one more year.

Brian Burke was fired before the season started for the Leafs, and we're in the playoffs with the youngest team in the league and a bright future ahead. I'm sure he's enjoying watching many of those pieces he brought in that are performing well for us. We as fans are enjoying that he's no longer our GM. The problem with not firing Colangelo, is that if Burke weren't fired, we might still make the playoffs and we'd be stuck with a decision of whether or not to give Burke the reins to run this thing into the ground (again).

With the lack of draft pick and inflexibility due to bad contracts, Colangelo can just as easily "see this through" from inside his living room as a spectator like the rest of us. Let's fire him now and thus keep him away from our future first round draft picks, "pre-emptive strike" contract extensions and self-inflicted bidding wars against no one but himself.

Working with a roster that is built for a playoff appearance - and nothing more - is only delaying the inevitable. I'd rather see a team built with a solid foundation including a 21 year old Valanciunas on a rookie contract versus restarting with a 26 year old JV on an expensive contract. The Raptors went down that road twice before with Carter and Bosh.

Build a team and winning for the much anticipated 2021 free agent class!

I think the tension here is pretty obvious. If you fire Colangelo, you are handing the reins to someone new who will want to start over. That's fine but it might be a tough sell to ticket buyers, etc. who want to see meaningful games for their $200 tickets (or $4,000/suite tickets). It's not even really about the money per se cause this team will continue to make money regardless. It's about how far you can dig down before you can't get out of the hole....

So, there's that, versus: this roster isn't that good and won't win much of anything, so it needs to be rebuilt.

The one factor here that might play into this: look at the playoffs. Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, GS - all teams without a Lebron/Durant type guy and all right in the thick of it and, at least Memphis, is a legit title contender. Could a new guy chart a course of JV, plus another young guy, along with a rebuilt supporting cast?

The one factor here that might play into this: look at the playoffs. Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, GS - all teams without a Lebron/Durant type guy and all right in the thick of it and, at least Memphis, is a legit title contender. Could a new guy chart a course of JV, plus another young guy, along with a rebuilt supporting cast?

If we're looking at these playoffs and coming to that conclusion, its worth mentioning....

JV is a really nice piece, be he is a LONG, LONG, LONG way from being a Gasol/Noah type game changer. Those teams run their offenses thru their big men in the high post. Our guys don't even trust JV enough to pass the ball to him when he's open. JV isn't close to reading defenses at that expert level. He's not a team leader on the floor like those guys. He's not close to the defensive presence those guys are. And they both play with proven post scorers, something lacking on our roster.

So, yes, we could START the building process in something in the Memphis mold. But we're 3-5 years of JV development and a few other major pieces away from making that work.

This whole thing is a mess. MLSE hires a guy who wants another GM but doesn't know who yet. They are getting ready for draft combines soon and is there even going to be a Raptor representative? Aren't a lot of the big wigs from other teams going to be there? Isn't that a good place to start talking trades and transactions (not necessarily about the draft but for other players)?

Bryan needs to go but that decision should have been made weeks ago. Like the day after his press conference.

Was Leiweke going after Phil only to realize that the Sacramento to Seattle move might actually happen now, and so Leiweke is scrambling to find a plan B? This doesn't look good at all.

This whole thing is a mess. MLSE hires a guy who wants another GM but doesn't know who yet. They are getting ready for draft combines soon and is there even going to be a Raptor representative? Aren't a lot of the big wigs from other teams going to be there? Isn't that a good place to start talking trades and transactions (not necessarily about the draft but for other players)?

Bryan needs to go but that decision should have been made weeks ago. Like the day after his press conference.

Was Leiweke going after Phil only to realize that the Sacramento to Seattle move might actually happen now, and so Leiweke is scrambling to find a plan B? This doesn't look good at all.

Sacramento to Seattle is not going to happen. The league/Stern can invoke their "best interests of the league" to stop any sale. There is no way the Maloof's keep the team beyond this summer. Have you read any message boards for Sacramento fans? Yikes. If the Maloof's think they are bleeding money now, just hold on to that team a little while longer. I think you see Hansen get an expansion team for Seattle after the new TV deal is signed.

I'm not optimistic on Jackson coming to Toronto by the way but one can dream.

This whole thing is a mess. MLSE hires a guy who wants another GM but doesn't know who yet. They are getting ready for draft combines soon and is there even going to be a Raptor representative? Aren't a lot of the big wigs from other teams going to be there? Isn't that a good place to start talking trades and transactions (not necessarily about the draft but for other players)?

Bryan needs to go but that decision should have been made weeks ago. Like the day after his press conference.

Was Leiweke going after Phil only to realize that the Sacramento to Seattle move might actually happen now, and so Leiweke is scrambling to find a plan B? This doesn't look good at all.

I agree, but I think the issue goes back farther than Leiweke press conference.
It goes back to last summer. When we let BC have another year but offered him no security beyond that. He used that year to assemble a marginally talented team and handcuff all flexibility. He had to do it to save his job. Its an agency problem that we created then and are paying the price now.

A year ago (and before that even), I was screaming for BCs head. The asinine Nash talk was the final straw for me. I got lambasted on this forum for going so hard at BC then. Here we are now, handcuffed for at least 2 years, with no leadership structure, in the lottery for the 5th stratght year, still a total bottom-feeding laughing stock. At least now many RR members are cluing into what a mess the team really is.

Now, I dont really see the point in canning BC. Were already too far along a strategy that he created. Might as well ride it out. The time to fire him was last summer. Its too late now. Were married to the guy for another couple of years.

I think the tension here is pretty obvious. If you fire Colangelo, you are handing the reins to someone new who will want to start over. That's fine but it might be a tough sell to ticket buyers, etc. who want to see meaningful games for their $200 tickets (or $4,000/suite tickets). It's not even really about the money per se cause this team will continue to make money regardless. It's about how far you can dig down before you can't get out of the hole....

So, there's that, versus: this roster isn't that good and won't win much of anything, so it needs to be rebuilt.

The one factor here that might play into this: look at the playoffs. Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, GS - all teams without a Lebron/Durant type guy and all right in the thick of it and, at least Memphis, is a legit title contender. Could a new guy chart a course of JV, plus another young guy, along with a rebuilt supporting cast?

The Raptors have been sh!t for the majority of their 18 year existence and they have been better than average in league attendance.

Maybe if they rebuild with new direction this time will be different, but I don't think so. Rebuilding with Colangelo would be a tough sell though, no doubt.

Out of curiousity, do MLSE still attach Raptor season tickets to Leafs?

I'm for giving Colangelo another year. It's new ownership and maybe, it gives Caolngelo room to breathe that he didn't have with the other ownership/management.

You guys need to realize the likelihood that you're going to find/lure someone better. He has made some bad moves,but, at least he's taking risks and trying. Let us not forget that he has two executive of the year awards. At 45, I doubt he's lost his touch. Not to take away from the negatives. Just this guy has the qualifications to. if anything. be given one more year.

I would call his last two high profile moves a success. The Lowry and Gay acquisitions. So, maybe he's back on track. He's also been good at the last three drafts we've been in. If there is no improvement this upcoming year can him and casey both, no doubt!

come on, man.

onemoreyearonemoreyearonemoreyear...doesn't it ever get old? just how low does it have to be for people to realize that the level of lowness was brought about by BC in the first place?

what is it about the lowry & gay acquisitions that lead you to believe they can be classified as successes at the moment, or for the future?

do you really think that anyone who could be considered for a GM position of a pro team would be so much worse than what BC has been IN ACTUALITY? that's why you keep him???...because it's a theoretical possibility that the guy who you replace him with does an even worse job (if that's even a possibility...open for debate)? how would that even be gauged? once you're this bad/mediocre, getting worse is a good thing. or is the objective to clasp the team with leg irons to a treadmill, and shoot for a first round exit every season?

all i want is to believe that the GM running the raptors gives more of a shit about the product on the floor than anything else. BC's moves of late (read: almost his entire tenure in TO) have been driven by his desire to make the 'right' move according to what he believes is public perception. so he goes & gets a pseudo star (i.e. someone who's only paid like one) in rudy gay. matt fucking devlin calling somone a star 88 times a game doesn't actually make that player a star. giving out ridiculous extensions to sub-par players that you drafted doesn't make them a good draft pick, a franchise cornerstone, a building block, worth that money, etc. etc. then taking to the airwaves and proclaiming one of those 'franchise players' as being available in trade - when anyone with any common sense should know that doing so only placates the masses, and lowers his value - just so much dumb. as much of a bargs 'hater' as i've been labeled over the years, the way BC conveniently chucked him under the bus when public sentiment turned against bargs and towards BC was pathetic. if the deluded masses want to look at reasons why free agents might not want to play in TO, they can slot this kind of bullshit ahead of the weather & any other quasi-excuses that usually only exist to satisfy whatever narrative whatever bleating fucking idiot is trying to pass off as a woe-is-us excuse for why the raptors are bad YET AGAIN.

one more year? fuck and no.

but since i'm used to disappointment (the one & only thing BC has delivered with any consistency), i'm guessing he'll be back.

TRUE LOVE - Sometimes you know it the instant you see it across the bar.

do you really think that anyone who could be considered for a GM position of a pro team would be so much worse than what BC has been IN ACTUALITY? that's why you keep him???...because it's a theoretical possibility that the guy who you replace him with does an even worse job (if that's even a possibility...open for debate)? how would that even be gauged? once you're this bad/mediocre, getting worse is a good thing. or is the objective to clasp the team with leg irons to a treadmill, and shoot for a first round exit every season?

This has always been the sorriest excuse for keeping Colangelo. It's like your buddy who is dating an awful girl but won't break up with her cause he's afraid he can't do any better when, in actuality, dating an angry hippo would be just about the same thing....

Out of curiousity, do MLSE still attach Raptor season tickets to Leafs?

The suites are for everything I believe. That's basically every arena though. I was never clear on the season ticket issue but back when I lived in Toronto (2000-2004) I knew people who had Leafs tix and no Raps tix. As I say, though, I don't think it's a money issue.

Reading another board, some people are suggesting the delay might be a way to give Colangelo and excuse to resign and walk away gracefully. Not sure about that but it's a different spin on things.... They haven't exactly given him a resounding vote of confidence.

Mere speculation but it seems to me like MLSE wants to pick up Colangelo's option but Colangelo is asking for more. When you put yourself in BC's shoes, his choices are to either stay as Raps. GM for a year and possibly go or get a new long term contract with another team. On the other hand MLSE would not want to commit past the option year and understandably so.

Mere speculation but it seems to me like MLSE wants to pick up Colangelo's option but Colangelo is asking for more. When you put yourself in BC's shoes, his choices are to either stay as Raps. GM for a year and possibly go or get a new long term contract with another team. On the other hand MLSE would not want to commit past the option year and understandably so.

It makes more sense to keep BC for a final year while we scout for someone who can take over the season after.

No. If that's the plan, then we need a placeholder in there and not a lame-duck GM thats so desperate he will hamstring the franchise and destroy our future trying to keep his job. That is pretty much what happened this past year.